Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee
by ChapterHappy
Summary: I suck at writing a summary so I'll just say that BASICALLY Michael finds himself in a bad situation and needs to rely on the help of friends and family to survive...or something like that. :)
1. Chapter 1

**I had started writing this about a year ago and recently got a request to write again for Michael/Amanda, so I decided to sit down and visit it. There are slight parallels to the game in parts with a few things I changed to fit my story. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Michael grimaced as he felt fresh new blood trickle down his face. His eyes fluttered closed, he wasn't even sure himself if it was to keep the blood out or because he just didn't have the energy to keep them open anymore.

His mind was going a mile a minute, even though his body was sluggishly fading. He couldn't help himself when his laugh came out like a choked bark, causing him to expel flecks of blood from his lips. He opened one eye to look at his surroundings. Who would have thought that he would die in his own home? Who was he kidding...this house wasn't a home anymore. Not when it was just him living here. If you could define what he was doing as living. Amanda and the kids had left months ago and he hadn't heard from Jimmy or Tracey in a good couple of weeks...his loving wife even longer than that. He didn't exactly blame them, he had made a mess of things. Heck, even Trevor and Franklin were ticked at him. Well...Trevor was no surprise...he was always ticked at him. They had a weird relationship. Michael could never tell whether Trevor adored him or hated him, quite frankly both options scared him a little. Franklin though, he hadn't expected Franklin to abandon him.

It startled him when a sigh suddenly broke the silence in the home, took him a few seconds to realize that it had come from him. He had been laying on the floor of his garage for at least a day. Maybe two days? To be honest, he wasn't even sure. He had lost track of time completely. All he knew was that he had ticked Devin Weston off and that the men that had shown up at his door had taken great delight in letting him know that Weston had told them to teach him a lesson and that that he didn't really care if Michael survived said lesson or not. The six men had taken turns beating him with whatever they could find in the garage, some even wandering into the house and returning with knives and whatever else they could find that they thought could inflict some damage. In some ways Michael was glad that his wife and kids had left him there alone. He would never have been able to forgive himself if one of them had been home and had been used in some horrific way to torture him in a way that no physical torture ever could. He also wouldn't have wanted them to see him go out like this. He knew he would probably be unrecognizable to even his closest friends and family right now. He could barely see out of his left eye, both because it was nearly swollen shut and because, despite his best attempts at wiping it away, the blood had at some point crept in and made his vision even blurrier. He let his free hand take a brief swipe over his eye to try to wipe it clean again and nearly passed out from the pain that the movement caused.

His hair was both damp and crusty, both blood and sweat playing their parts. He was pretty sure that his nose was broken because he was having to breathe through his mouth to get any substantial amount of oxygen. He was no doctor, but he figured the fact that he was certain he had some broken ribs probably factored in to that as well. His once white dress shirt was stained so badly that one might never realize pure white had once been it's original color. Weston's thugs had taken great pride in the damage they could do with a little flick of a knife blade.

Michael didn't know if he would live to see the outside of this garage again, but if he did, he swore to himself that he was going to kill Devin Weston. It hadn't taken this to push him to that place, he'd always wanted to kill him. This, however, had made it his number one goal in life. He moved to attempt to push himself off the floor but was quickly brought back to reality by the metal clink that followed his movement. He swore under his breath as he looked down at his right hand, handcuffed to the thick metal pipe that ran along the side of his garage. The handcuff was so tight that he was having trouble feeling his fingertips.

He wanted to punch something...or better yet someone. What he'd REALLY like to do is shoot someone. Didn't anyone notice that he hadn't been around? He hit the concrete floor with his fist, yelling in frustration and pain when all he accomplished was reminding himself that Weston's men had broken two of his fingers. He pressed his injured hand against the deepest knife wound on his side that had began to slowly release fresh blood after the sudden movement.

He let his head fall back against the wall, for the first time in a long time feeling helpless. Eyes drifting closed, he gave in to the weariness that weighed him down.

* * *

Jimmy tiptoed towards the house, convinced that at the slightest noise his father would appear, gun in hand, and scare the crap out of him. He had been watching the house for a few minutes, trying to catch a glimpse of the slightest movement that would let him know that his father was home, but the house had been completely dark and still...almost eerily so actually. He'd had a buddy drop him off so he could grab his bike and rummage through the house to see if he could find any cash or anything he could pawn off for some cash. He'd tried to get his mother to visit the house and get some cash from him but she had refused to even step foot on the property, declaring that if she ever saw "that man" again, it would be too soon.

Jimmy's heart raced the closer he got to the house, he wasn't sure if it was from fear or excitement. He scoffed at his thoughts...why should he be afraid? This was his house too after all. It's not like he couldn't come and go as he pleased, even if he had said some pretty harsh things to his father and said he'd never be back. His sneakers softly skimmed across the pavement as he made his way up the steps and gently pushed against the front door, only to find that it didn't give even an inch. He pushed again with a little less caution, and when he still got the same results he shook the handle, completely forgetting his attempts to be silent.

"Ah crap...since when do you lock the doors Michael?" he muttered under his breath as he took a few steps back from the door to survey the house. He knew the bathroom window upstairs was probably open but he was also aware of his own limitations and knew that there was no way he was going to be scaling the side of the house. "I mean, I probably could if I really wanted too. I know how to be stealthy...that's why I dominate so many games" he was having a conversation with himself as he walked around towards the garage. He knew his father never parked in the garage, and his car wasn't in the driveway so he felt pretty confident that Michael wasn't home.

Even so, that didn't stop him from tip-toeing his way towards the door on the side of the garage and breathing a sigh of relief when it slowly slid open after his gentle push. He felt like he was James Bond or something. ".007 WISHES he was as good as De Santa, James De Santa" he declared as he confidently strode into the garage, the words barely leaving his mouth before he tripped over something and landed painfully in a puddle of something wet and sticky.

"Gross...GROSS!" he let out a huff of air in disgust as he scrambled to his feet and felt along the wall for the light switch, squinting as his eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness in the somewhat small space. He looked down at his hands to see what he was covered in and nearly threw up when he saw that his hands and the entire front of his shirt was covered in red.

"No...no no no...I mean...motor oil can be red right? Sure I mean...that's what...this could be that right?" he babbled almost incoherently even to himself as he slowly turned around to see what he had tripped over. His heart plummeted to his feet when he saw the body lying near the door. The head was turned towards the wall but Jimmy didn't need to see the face to know that it was his father laying there in the pool of blood. Tears immediately sprang to his eyes but he couldn't make himself move. He was frozen, holding his hands out in front of himself like they were separate from the rest of his body.

"Pops?" he didn't even recognize his own voice when it echoed through the garage. Surely that weak, terrified squeak hadn't come from him? "Pops is that you?" he repeated in the silence that followed, "Dad? Michael!" his voice had risen to a yell, desperate for his father to respond with a "would you keep it down kid? I have a killer headache" but there was no sound from the still form laying there.

Frantically Jimmy dug his phone out of his pocket, only to send it skittering across the garage floor when it touched his slippery fingers.

He swore as he wiped his hands across his own clothes in a desperate attempt to wipe away his father's blood. When he realized he wasn't making much progress he scrambled over to his phone and immediately went to dial his mother's number and then froze.

"I can't call Mom...what am I going to say...she'd freak...she can't handle this...I can't handle this!" he babbled to himself, pacing back and forth in the garage. "Franklin! I"ll call Franklin! He'll know what to do."

He stared at his father as the phone rang for what seemed like forever. It was like he was in a trance when Franklin did finally answer.

* * *

"Hey, can I call you back man? I'm kinda busy" Franklin lazily spoke as he laid on his couch. Silence greeted him on the other end of the phone line. "Uh hello? You there? Man I swear...if you butt dialed me again..." he was interrupted by Jimmy's shaky voice.

"Franklin? I...it's my dad man...I...I...I think he's dead" Jimmy could barely get the sentence out. It sounded like the kid was hyperventilating. Franklin slowly sat up straight, something didn't feel right. "Yo man listen, I'm sure your pops is fine...I'm sure he just got caught up with something again and forgot to reach out to you and..."

"No Franklin!" Jimmy interrupted with a whispered hiss, "I'm looking right at him! In our garage! I think he's dead! I think he's dead Franklin! Oh my gosh I think he's dead, what am I going to do, what am I going to tell Mom?" At this point Franklin realized that Jimmy was no longer talking to him and was in his own world.

"Hey...HEY" he yelled into the phone to try to snap Jimmy back into focus.

"Dude there's blood everywhere...everywhere. I can't get it off of me. He hasn't moved. I...I said some horrible things to him man..." Jimmy's voice trailed off on a teary note.

"Man listen...did you check him?" Franklin tried to calmly ask as he grabbed his keys from his counter and headed for the door.

"Check him for what?" Jimmy asked, sounding completely out of it.

"A pulse...check him for a pulse" Franklin rolled his eyes as he climbed into the car.

"I...I can't Frank...I can't touch him. Wh...what...what if he really is dead?" Jimmy's voice had trailed off to a whisper.

"What if he's not? What if he needs your help right now and you're too busy standing there crapping your pants to give some CPR?" Franklin said sharply as he pushed the gas peddle to the floor and his tires protested loudly.

"CPR? Gross man...that would be like kissing my own pops!" Jimmy said in disgust.

"Yeah well...would you rather not have a pops?" Franklin retorted.

"Ok...yeah...ok..." Jimmy replied as Franklin heard some movement in the background.

Jimmy slowly walked towards his father's body, terrified already and getting even more terrified the closer his feet brought him to his destination. He slowly knelt down beside Michael, his hand visibly shaking as he reached his hand towards his father's neck.

"Well?" Jimmy jumped when he heard Franklin's voice coming from his phone.

"I think there's a pulse but I'm not sure man! My hand was shaking so bad...I...I...dude it's horrible. I can barely recognize him..." Jimmy's voice trailed off softly. "I should call 911!" he declared suddenly.

"Whoa whoa...hold up man...I'm almost there. If your pops was into some shady business then getting the police involved might be the worst idea" Franklin spoke calmly but firmly.

"Who cares what he was into! He needs help!" Jimmy argued.

"Let me make some calls first and see what I can find...don't do anything stupid" Franklin's voice sounded far away to Jimmy's ears. He nodded to himself, as if Franklin could somehow hear that, before hanging up the phone.

He slowly reached his hand towards his father's face, almost scared that Michael was going to open his eyes and scare the crap out of him suddenly. He grabbed the chin that was heavy with stubble and gently turned his father's face towards him.

His breath suddenly seemed to leave his body when he got his first good look at his father's face. It was almost unrecognizable, even to him. There was so much blood that Jimmy didn't understand how the man still had a pulse. The area around his eye was enormous and looked like it would pop if Jimmy so much as laid a finger on it. Michael's hair was caked with dried blood, his nose had to be broken, there was a deep gash on his forehead, a split in his lip...Jimmy finally stopped taking note of all of his injuries because there were just too many and it was freaking him out.


	2. Chapter 2

Franklin was used to driving at high speeds and he was grateful for that as he raced towards the De Santa home. He pressed his #3 speed dial and waited impatiently for the voice on the other end.

"Why are you calling me?" was the immediate answer to the phone call.

"Hello to you too," Franklin said sarcastically, "listen man...I need some help Lester. I should say Michael needs some help."

"Like that's any surprise" the older man mumbled irritably.

"Whatever man, it's serious...like life or death serious" Franklin raised his voice as he sat impatiently at a red light. He would have raced right through it but a police car sat parked on the side of the street further down the block and he didn't need any extra attention tonight.

"Fine..." Lester sighed, "what do you need from me?"

"I don't s'pose you got any connections that could get us a house visit from a doctor?" Franklin asked hopefully.

"What kind of doctor? He's already seeing a shrink and I can't say that it seems to be helping" Lester let out an annoying cackle of a laugh.

"What the...I just told you this was serious man. I'm talkin' like an emergency doctor...a save a man's life kind of doctor." Franklin liked Lester well enough, but right now he would have been just fine with running the man over if he had been out in the street.

There were a few seconds of silence on the other end before Lester quietly swore and asked "what happened? Is he even alive?"

"Look I don't know what happened aiight? His kid just called me because he found him in the garage and thought he was dead. I'm on my way over there now and if you could manage to stop insulting the man long enough to help I'd appreciate it."

"Alright, alright" Lester replied, sounding equally irritated with Franklin. "I have a couple of favors I can call in. I'll see what I can do."

"Yeah that's what I figured...send 'em over to Michael's house man" Franklin angrily punched the end call button in the middle of Lester's sarcastic reply.

He was two streets away from Michael's home when he looked down at his phone and moved through his contacts until he came to Trevor's name. He hesitated, knowing full well that this was a mistake. He pushed the button anyway.

"Well well well, if it isn't my favorite homie. Miss me?" Trevor's grating voice filled his ear.

"I just want to know one thing" Franklin ignored Trevor's question.

"What's this? Not even a hello? Mikey's rubbing off on you...didn't anyone ever tell you no one likes a prick?" Trevor's voice had grown dangerously low.

"Whatever man...hello. Did you do it?" Franklin replied as he pulled into Michael's driveway.

"Contrary to popular belief, I can't read minds...what exactly is it that you seem to think I did?" Trevor asked as he snorted who knows what.

"Last time I saw you and Michael, you were goin' on and on about how you'd kill him if you saw him again. Gonna ask you again T...did you do it?" Franklin sat in his car, waiting for Trevor's reply before he went into the garage.

There was complete silence from Trevor's end and Franklin was not going to push his luck and ask again. Finally Trevor's voice came across the speaker, eerily calm, "He's dead?"

"Not yet but...he's pretty close" Franklin replied after a moment and then pulled the phone away from his ear when a loud stream of expletives exploded from Trevor's mouth.

"Who?" Trevor growled out the question and it made Franklin even shudder a bit.

"I don't know man...I don't know. I'm at his house now and Lester is sending a doc. I'll let you know as soon as I find somethin' out" Franklin barely had the chance to finish his sentence before Trevor ended the phone call, screaming curses at no one in particular.

* * *

Jimmy reached down to lift his father's arm away from his side, to see what injuries were hidden there, and nearly fell on top of him when a groan came from the man. The sound was so quiet that Jimmy almost thought he had imagined it, especially when there didn't seem to be any movement or other sounds that followed.

"Dad?" he called softly, watching his father closely for any physical response. It's not that he had really been expecting anything, but he was still disappointed when there was no reaction.

The door to the garage suddenly flew open and Jimmy stood up so suddenly that he nearly slipped in the blood as he took a step to stand over his father's body.

"Oh man! Dude am I glad to see you" he exclaimed loudly as he grabbed at his chest as if his heart had failed him when he saw Franklin.

Franklin was surprised that Jimmy had stood protectively over his prone father, even though he had no idea who was coming through the door. Maybe the kid wasn't as worthless as everyone seemed to think he was. He didn't reply as he gingerly walked around Jimmy so he could get a good look at the man on the ground. He sucked air in past his teeth as he took a quick survey of all the blood that had pooled around Michael's body.

"What do we do?" Jimmy's loud whisper startled Franklin out of his concentration.

"I got somebody on the way over to take a look at him. We should probably wait to move him until then" Franklin said as he slowly turned in a circle to look around the garage. He pulled his phone out and pressed his #2 speed dial, waiting until he heard the phone ringing before he moved. He found Michael's phone underneath the work table at the back of the garage. Quickly scrolling through the phone's options, he stopped when he got to the recent calls. Dave Norton. That was Michael's last call. He was just about to hit the redial button when he heard a car pull up outside.

He held a finger to his lips and waved Jimmy behind him, the kid's eyes growing huge as he obeyed. Franklin slowly pulled his gun out and aimed it at the door, waiting for their guest to make his or her appearance. He heard an odd pattern of footsteps approaching the house, followed by a loud whisper. "Franklin...Franklin it's Lester...where are you?"

He rolled his eyes as he called out "in the garage" and put his gun away.

Lester hobbled into the garage, his eyebrows shooting up high on his forehead when he saw Michael's body on the concrete. He quickly shuffled out of the way and waved another man into the garage. There were no introductions made as the man quickly knelt down beside Michael and checked for a pulse before poking and prodding the man's body.

Lester and Jimmy both watched without saying a word. Franklin opened the door to the house and left the garage without alerting the others. He silently made his way through the house, eyes taking in the huge mess that had been left behind. The drawers in the kitchen had all been emptied, their contents all over the kitchen floor. The glass doors that lead to the pool area had been shattered and the dining room furniture in pieces both indoors and outdoors. The couch and chair in the living room looked as if the intruder had taken a knife to them in one quick strike down the middle, leaving behind a giant rip with stuffing spilling out. Family pictures and books were thrown everywhere. Franklin shook his head in disgust and hit the redial button on Michael's phone. There was no answer so he hit the redial button again. He'd keep doing it until the man decided to answer.

"I thought I told you to never call me again" Norton's voice hissed in a whisper.

"You wanna explain to me why Michael might die tonight and you were the last call on his phone" Franklin asked coldly, not even bothering to acknowledge the older man's statement.

"What? What are you talking about? Who is this?" Franklin had to admit, the man sounded genuinely confused but it wasn't like he hadn't played them before.

"Franklin. Franklin Clinton. You know...the guy you've screwed over so many times I've lost count. Now I ain't playin'...you'd better start talkin'" Franklin stated, proud that he sounded much more calm than he felt.

Dave Norton swore quickly before answering "I warned him Franklin, I warned him. That's why I called him. I told him that Devin Weston was pissed off and wanted him dead. But you know Michael...he's cocky. I just don't think he expected it to happen this soon. I gotta go, I can't be on the phone with you right now. Keep your head down and don't call me again." Franklin heard the dial tone before he could even open his mouth again. He swore as he stared at the feeling and took a couple of deep breaths before calling Trevor.

"You better have some news" the older man growled.

"Listen T...it's lookin like Weston was behind this whole thing."

"Weston? Devin Weston? That little snake...I knew I should have killed him a long time ago" Trevor spat. There was a loud crack that sounded like glass breaking, followed by a few dark curses from the man.

"Yo you ok T? What was that?" Franklin asked, slightly concerned.

"I needed a new windshield anyway" Trevor mumbled, almost as if he wasn't even talking to Franklin. "You're lucky I'm in a hurry you little prick" Franklin could hear him yelling before Trevor ended the phone call.

"I'm gettin a little sick of people just hangin' up all rude like that" Franklin mumbled before making his way back towards the garage.

* * *

Jimmy had backed himself into the corner that was furthest away from where the doctor and his father were. Lester stood by the door, watching the doctor's moves closely. Jimmy dialed his Mom's number before he could convince himself it wasn't a good idea.

"Jimmy I already told you, I'm not going to go get you any more money. If you want it that bad then go ask your father for it yourself" his Mother immediately started ranting and didn't show any signs of stopping.

"Mom..." he whispered, trying to get a word in edgewise. "Mom!" he said again when she just kept right on talking. His voice must have sounded as freaked out as he felt because she suddenly stopped mid sentence.

"Jimmy? What's wrong? What's going on?" she asked hesitantly, as if afraid of what the answer would be.

Jimmy had zoned out, his arm slowly pulling the phone away from his ear as he watched the doctor suddenly begin to do chest compression's on his father. He wasn't sure how long he stood like that until he suddenly realized that his mom was screaming into the phone.

"Jimmy? Jimmy answer me! Are you ok? Jimmy!"

"Mom..." his voice trailed off when he realized he sounded like he was crying. Why did he sound like that? He hadn't even realized that tears were slipping down his face until one dropped off the end of his nose. "Mom it's Dad..."

"No...no Jimmy...no don't tell me he's..." Amanda's voice broke.

"Mom I think he's dead" Jimmy let out in a sob, "Franklin and Lester are here and...and...there's a doctor guy...and...and I think Dad stopped breathing because the guy is pushing on his chest Mom!"

By this point Amanda was audibly sobbing as she listened to her son cry and try to get the words out. "Where are you? Are you at the house?!"

"Yeah...we're at the house. He's in the garage...someone...someone...it's pretty bad Mom. You probably shouldn't...you shouldn't see this" Jimmy had calmed down enough to get protective of his Mother, not wanting her to see Michael in the condition he was in.

"I'm on my way" Jimmy heard the door slam and knew it was too late to stop her. "Don't call your sister. She's out with her friends and I don't want to scare her until...until we know more."


	3. Chapter 3

Jimmy stared at his phone after his Mom had ended the call. Franklin had returned to the garage and was grabbing Michael beneath his shoulders as the doctor grabbed his legs.

"Is he...is he dead?" He was afraid to ask but he knew he had to.

"No, I got his heart started again but I need him inside where I can work easier" the doctor replied as he struggled to carry his end of the larger man.

Jimmy pushed the door open that connected the garage and house to make way for the men. He stared in shock as he got his first glimpse of the damage done to the inside of the home before numbly following the two men carrying his father to the living room.

* * *

Lester was slowly making his way across the garage, trying to avoid all of the blood, when the door crashed open behind him, bouncing off the wall and causing him to stumble when he turned suddenly.

Trevor took two steps into the garage and froze at the sight of blood but no Michael. His eyes slowly moved towards Lester and the shorter man shrunk back at the rage he saw there.

"Where...is...he?" Trevor growled out the words. Lester's eyes quickly darted towards the open door leading inside and he shuffled out of the way., hesitating before finally following Trevor through the doorway.

"Uncle T!" Jimmy's face looked as if he didn't know whether to be relieved or afraid at the sight of his unofficial uncle.

"James." was Trevor's form of reply as he didn't even look towards the boy but kept his eyes focused on the couch until he came to a stop beside Franklin, looking down at the man who was still motionless.

Franklin didn't say anything, didn't seem like a good idea. Trevor looked like he was going to kill someone and he didn't want that someone to be him. The doctor was the only one who hadn't backed away and that was because he was so focused on what he was doing that he hadn't looked up to see the crazed man that had entered the room.

Franklin watched as Trevor's breathing intensified, he half expected him to be breathing fire soon. He tried to control his movement but still twitched when Trevor suddenly jerked away, stopping only to let out a roar as he punched a hole in the wall and stomped back out the way he had came.

Franklin didn't realize he had been holding his breath until the man disappeared. He jumped when Trevor's head suddenly reappeared inside the doorway. "You just gonna stand there all night homeboy or are you going to help me kill the scum that did this?"

"Uh...yeah dawg...just uh...just give me a second and I'll be right out" Franklin said as he glanced back and forth between him and Jimmy.

"I'll be outside...waiting" Trevor gave Franklin an irritated glare to get his point across.

* * *

Franklin walked over to stand beside Jimmy, awkwardly putting his hand on the young man's shoulder. "Listen man...your Dad...he's tough...he uh...he's going to be fine." They stood there together, watching the doctor work in silence before Franklin finally spoke again. "Listen I gotta head out before Trevor comes in and drags me out. You gonna be ok here?"

Jimmy didn't look up but nodded. "Yeah...yeah I'm ok. Mom's on her way, I called her a couple minutes ago."

Franklin patted him on the shoulder before heading towards the door, pausing when he heard Jimmy's voice again.

"Hey Franklin? Thanks...for being here."

"Yeah man...we family and that's what family does" Franklin replied before glancing one more time at the man on the couch and disappearing through the door.

"About time" Trevor hissed as Franklin climbed into the vehicle.

"Shut up T. I just wanted to make sure the kid was ok before we left. Seeing his pops laying there in all that blood...that's tough man" Franklin shook his head.

Trevor was silent but let the subject drop as his truck tore away from the De Santa home.

"Do you even know where you're going? We don't even know where this Weston punk is" Franklin finally spoke as they raced along the streets. There was no reply from the other side of the truck. "What about a plan? You got one of those?" Franklin grabbed the door as the brakes squealed in protest and they came to a sudden stop.

"If you're gonna yap all night while I'm trying to think then you can get out now before I throw you out in pieces" Trevor suddenly held a switchblade in front of Franklin's face.

"Whoa whoa whoa...calm down dawg" Franklin protested with both hands in front of him, a slender defense against the older man. "I didn't mean nothin' by it...I was just tryin' to be prepared."

"When I come up with a plan...dawg...you'll be the first to know" Trevor replied with a sneer before he closed the blade and stuffed it back into his pocket.

Franklin sat back in his seat, deciding it was safer to stay silent and just go along for the ride until Trevor decided to share whatever was going on inside that head of his.

* * *

Amanda was shaking as she drove herself to the house that she had lived in for so many years. She was afraid of what she was going to find when she entered the home. She could hear the fear in her son's voice when they had spoken and it gripped her heart in terror. She had said and done SO many things to Michael over the years and he had done the same to her. But she was the one who had left and hadn't come back. He had left her dozens of voicemail's and text messages, begging her to come home and give them another try, promising he'd change. She had ignored every single one and it had been months since she had left. She knew that Tracey had visited him a few times to make sure he was ok and Jimmy had communicated with text messages but had refused to actually talk to him or go see him. He had still been furious with his dad and had wanted her to be the one to go over to the house tonight to pick up things for him. She regretted that she hadn't done that now. No kid should ever have to find their parent like Jimmy had apparently found his father tonight. She wasn't a religious woman, but she found herself whispering a prayer, begging for her husband's life to be spared. She had been so angry with Michael and had thought that she could have found a much better life without him, but the truth was that she had missed him terribly these past few months. She would never have admitted that had anyone ever asked. In fact, she would have lied through her teeth and said that they were the best months of her life and that she finally felt free.

She silently shook her head as she pulled into the driveway, wondering how she had even gotten here. She didn't remember any of the drive over and that shook her a bit. She took a moment to try to compose herself before she had to go into the house. There were three vehicles outside but she only recognized Franklin's. She assumed one of the other two must be the doctor that Jimmy had mentioned. She was glad her son hadn't been alone until she had gotten there.

Amanda slowly got out of the car, feeling like she had aged at least 10 years in the last 20 minutes. She could see light spilling out of the open garage door so she made her way towards it, stopping in horror when she stepped inside. There was blood everywhere, Michael's blood. So much that she was convinced that when she walked into the house, she was going to be told that he hadn't survived. She leaned heavily against the wall for a moment, feeling like her legs were going to give out beneath her. Her world had closed around her for a moment, but she was suddenly aware of voices coming from the house and made her way towards the door, trying to avoid as much of her husband's blood as she could.

She was shocked to see the condition of her house. It hadn't occurred to her that whoever had attacked Michael had destroyed her home as well. She followed the voices into the living room and no one even knew she was there until she audibly gasped. Nothing could have prepared her for that moment when she saw the condition of her husband. She sank into the nearest chair for a moment because her legs just couldn't hold her anymore.

"Mom!" Jimmy exclaimed when he noticed her, running over to wrap her in a hug that was rare for them. Lester averted his eyes as soon as he made eye contact with her and the doctor never even looked up.

"Don't worry, he's uh...he's fine, he just...he looks worse than he is" Jimmy rambled unconvincingly, avoiding looking at her when he said it. He moved quickly to help her stand when she reached for him.

Amanda slowly made her way over to the couch, not even aware of the tears that had made their way down her cheeks. How could this battered man be Michael? HER Michael. She could barely recognize his once handsome features, now bruised and swollen beyond recognition. She knelt down by his head, careful to stay out of the doctor's way as he worked on Michael's side. She couldn't see the injury, but there was a lot of blood so she knew it was bad.

"I'm here baby," she whispered in Michael's ear as she touched his hair with her trembling hand. She couldn't even run her finger's through it because it was knotted in so many places with blood. She gently stroked her finger's over his hair instead, smoothing it away from his forehead.

* * *

Jimmy felt like he could barely breathe. It was like someone was taking their hands and squeezing his neck until he could barely get any air to pass through. He bent over at the waist, putting his hands on his knees, trying to calm himself into deeper breaths. He wanted to be strong for his Mom, not be someone else that she needed to worry about. Not that she would have noticed at the moment, Her head was buried into the arm of the couch, just above where his father's head rested, as she sobbed.

He couldn't believe this had happened. He knew his Dad lived a dangerous life, but he had never REALLY expected it to catch up to him. As a kid you kind of just always feel like your parents are invincible, especially your Dad. Especially when your Dad is Michael DeSanta. As much as he hated the man his father was, he also never doubted that his father would protect him. He never really thought about what would happen if Michael was gone. He supposed that was why he had always felt so free to tell his Dad exactly what he thought of him, never concerned because he always felt like at some point everything would come full circle and it would be like none of it had ever happened. But this time he might never get the chance for that to happen. He had said some terrible things to his father...he hadn't actually spoken to him for months. Michael had left him a lot of voicemail's but he had always just rolled his eyes when he listened to them and then deleted them. He wished more than anything that he hadn't done that now. If his Dad died and he was never able to hear his voice again, those voicemail's would have meant everything to him.

He turned away from everyone else as he felt the tears welling up in his eyes again. His Dad was invincible right? He had to be alright. He had to be.

* * *

Trevor had been racing through the streets for the past half hour and not even he was sure where he was going. He needed to feel like he was doing something or he would go crazy. Well, crazier than he already was anyway. His hands tightened around the steering wheel until his knuckles were white as he thought about how Michael had looked laying on that couch. If someone hadn't told him that the man was still breathing, he would have been convinced that death had already found him. They'd been through their fair share of death defying stunts and narrow escapes, but this one didn't feel right and that pissed him off. If ANYONE was going to kill Michael, it would be him and ONLY him. Even when the man was unconscious and totally unaware of everything going on around him, everything was STILL about him. He let out a low audible growl and saw Franklin glance towards him slightly, trying to do it in a way that Trevor wouldn't notice.

"If ya got somethin' to say then just spit it out Frankie," he said as he rolled his eyes.

"Naw man, I just..." Franklin trailed off before starting again, "I was just thinking that maybe we should start with figuring out where Weston is right now and go from there."

"You think I haven't thought of that? You think I'm stupid or somethin'?" Trevor gave Franklin a wild eyed look as he began to swerve wildly on the road.

"No man, no! That's not what I'm sayin'!" Franklin protested. "I was just gonna say that maybe Lester could help us track him down and save us some time."

"Oh...right right right right" Trevor rambled for a moment as he dug in his pocket for his phone, continuing to swerve as he half stood in the vehicle. Finally pulling his phone out, he dialed Lester's number and impatiently waited as it rang.

"C'mon ya little prick, I ain't got all night" he yelled into the phone.

"Uh...hello?" Lester answered after a moment of silent hesitation on the line.

"Lester! Finally you imbecile...you going to help us track down this snake Weston or are you still babysitting?"

Lester heaved a dramatic sigh, "You're lucky that Michael's on his death bed right now or I wouldn't have even taken your call" he mumbled as he shuffled out to his car to grab his laptop.

"I"m lucky? I'm LUCKY?!" Trevor roared, "you listen here you little prehistoric pint size cripple of a prick, that's my best friend laying there and you have the nerve to open your trashy mouth and say I'm LUCKY?"

Franklin cringed as Trevor's spit flew everywhere as he yelled. He held on to the door handle a little tighter as the vehicle just kept on accelerating.

"Uh maybe I should talk to him man," he hesitantly interrupted Trevor's tirade. "I mean just so you can focus on driving and stuff," he hastily added when Trevor's head whipped in his direction, staring him down for what felt like minutes but in reality was just a few seconds. If looks could kill, SOMEONE would be dead right now and Franklin would prefer it to be Lester and not him. Silently Trevor handed the phone over to him, spit dribbling from the corner of his mouth that was locked in something that resembled an animal baring it's teeth in a fight.

"Lester...uh listen man," Franklin finally tore his stare away from Trevor's slightly frightening face and focused on the road in front of him. "We on the road but we don't really know where we're s'posed to be headin'. Think you could do your computer magic and find us a location for him?"

There was silence on the other end for a bit. "Uh...Lester? You there man?"

"So help me if that little pest of a human being hung up, I'm turning this car around and killing him before I kill Devin Weston," Trevor screeched as he slammed on the brakes and the tires squealed in protest.

"Tell him not to get his panties in a bunch," Lester mumbled irritably.

"Uhhh how 'bout I don't and we just get down to business" Franklin replied, glancing nervously over at Trevor before giving him a thumbs up. He was relieved when Trevor seemed to relax slightly and the car started to move forward again.

"I'm looking Franklin, I'm not some little genie that just snaps their fingers and this stuff pops into my head. There's actual work that needs to be done. Work that you people wouldn't understand becaus..."

"What's that s'posed to mean...you people?" Franklin was getting irritated himself now.

"Settle down Franklin, I meant you people as in you, Trevor, and Michael...you guys are all brawn and expect the brains to be magical. Which I am...but it takes time." Lester replied and Franklin didn't have to see the man to know that he rolled his eyes. "Aha! Gotcha. You can run, but you can't hide from me!" Lester practically chortled.

"You got somethin'?" Franklin asked seconds before his phone beeped. He pulled it away from his ear to see that he already had a text from Lester. He checked to make sure it was an address before hanging up as Lester babbled on about something.

"We got it Trevor. Weston's as good as dead. Let's stop at Ammunation and pick up some stuff before we head out there." Franklin shook his head as Trevor howled in excitement.

* * *

Back at the house, Lester was mumbling about someone hanging up on him and ranting about ungratefulness as the doctor was finishing stitching up the last of Michael's deeper wounds. He was obviously used to dealing with people who were unable to go to a hospital for various reasons, because he had a whole setup that he had brought with him. He had Michael hooked up to fluids and had even brought bags of blood for a transfusion, correctly assuming that his patient would have lost a lot of his own blood.

Amanda didn't want to know how he got a hold of any of that. She shuddered as she watched it pass through the little tube into Michael's body, hoping that whoever it came from hadn't had any diseases. She had been wiping the blood away from her husband's face while the doctor had worked on his chest, sides, and stomach. She had carefully avoided his eye though, it still looked hideous, although the swelling had gone down. The doctor handed her a gel cold pack and she gently laid it across the colored lump and held it in place. Now that most of the blood had been cleared away, she could see some of the features that she loved the most about her husband. At least his strong jaw was relatively undamaged, give or a take a bruise here or there. His nose had tape stretched across it, she assumed to hold things in place. His bottom lip was split and looked painful but there was nothing much that could be done about that right now. The doctor had given her some sort of ointment to put on it though. The deep gash on his forehead was going to need stitches but that had to wait until the doctor finished working on the more severe injuries. That would probably be next on his list.

She let her gaze travel down her husband's body. His right wrist had bruising and lacerations from the handcuff being so tight and his left hand had little splints on two different fingers that the doctor had to set. There had been a deep knife wound in his left side that had taken most of the doc's attention. That was probably where most of his blood was lost. He had several more cuts across his chest and stomach that had also bled a lot, a couple of them needing stitches because they were so deep. His right side was deeply bruised and the doctor had mentioned that there were a couple of broken ribs. He had laid a couple of ice packs there but had said that he couldn't wrap the midsection unless Michael woke up and could sit up at some point.

She hated that he had said it as if there was doubt that Michael would wake up. Why couldn't he have said WHEN Michael wakes up...that would have eased her mind a bit. She just couldn't believe this was happening. Part of her felt terrible that Michael had been here alone and had apparently been here suffering for some time. The doctor mentioned that it looked like his side wound had bled for a day or more. That meant that her husband had been laying on the cold, hard garage floor...not knowing if anyone was ever going to find him. She hated that. Hated that he must have felt alone and probably hopeless. However, she was also relieved that the kids hadn't been there. What if Michael's attackers had decided that the way they could hurt him the most was to harm his kids? Or even her? In spite of everything that had happened between them over the years, she knew that Michael would rather die than let anyone hurt her or the kids.

She stood up to move as the doctor approached to sew up the gash on the forehead. "Thank you...for everything you're doing to help him." she said to him as she stood there wringing her hands nervously.

He barely spared her a glance as he continued his work. "Oh don't worry, he'll be paid for his efforts" Lester interrupted sarcastically.

"Is he...will he be ok?" she asked the doctor, unsure if she wanted to hear the answer.

He sighed as he stood after completing his task. "He seems to be stabilizing, however it's difficult to say with any certainty unless he wakes up. If he regains consciousness, then I would say that recovery is very probable."

Amanda hadn't heard the man speak the entire time he'd been here and was startled by how deep his voice was. "I don't even know your name..." she said softly.

"Let's just stick with doctor" he said with a smirk as he gathered up his equipment.

"People don't exchange names when you deal with the kind of people he deals with," Lester offered as an explanation.

Amanda glanced at the doctor with a raised eyebrow. "Well, thank you doctor...I can't tell you how much we appreciate everything you've done."

He simply nodded and began to walk out the door. "Wait!" Amanda called, "you're not leaving are you? What if something happens? What if he needs you?"

The man glanced at Michael before replying, "I've done everything that I can do right now. Your husband's vitals have stabilized and we've attended to his injuries. At this point it's a game of wait and see. Lester knows how to get a hold of me if something comes up that requires my assistance, but as of right now I would suggest just keeping an eye on him, getting some rest yourselves, and just wait." With that he disappeared out the door, leaving her with Jimmy and Lester as they all stared at each other and then at Michael.

Amanda sighed as she sat down at the other end of the couch, one hand resting on her husband's legs, which had somehow made it out unscathed. She watched through half closed eyes as Lester shuffled over to the chair and settled in, while Jimmy sat down on the floor and leaned against the other end of the couch by his father's head. This was going to be a long night.


	4. Chapter 4

Meanwhile, Trevor and Franklin had arrived at the Weston mansion. They had pulled off the road and were looking at the house through binoculars, unwilling to give away any hint of their presence. They were going to need all the help they could get because Franklin counted at least 4 guards and that was just by the front gates. He wondered if Weston was always this overly cautious or if he was especially on edge tonight, given his dirty deeds of the day.

"How you wanna do this T?" he asked quietly.

Trevor sat silently for a bit before responding quietly. "I don't care if we blow the whole thing sky high...you can do whatever you want. But when we find Weston...he's mine."

Franklin shuddered inside as he looked at Trevor. His eyes were cold, his voice just barely audible, and he wasn't blinking as he stared at the home ahead of them. He nodded silently, knowing that Trevor was hardly aware that he was even beside him at the moment. He glanced over, "Well...let's do this then...for Mike."

With that they silently exited the vehicle, each having armed himself with multiple weapons that had all been silenced. Franklin hoped they could keep it as quiet as possible. The longer they could maintain the element of surprise, the bigger the chance that they'd make it out of this alive. Whether Devin Weston made it out alive didn't matter much to him, but he knew that Trevor had big plans and would not be satisfied unless he personally got to repay the man for his grievances. Weston must have been having a pool party or something, because as they drew near to the house, he could hear music pumping it's way through the night. The front of the house was fairly dark, the back was lit up around the pool but some would call that "mood lighting."

The first two guards had been standing together, so it was a little trickier to take them out quietly. He and Trevor had split up to each take one and had to act quickly in order to make sure that they didn't make a sound. After that most of the guards were pacing back and forth in various assigned positions. They had again split up, with Trevor lifting himself onto the first balcony on the left side of the house and Franklin sneaking around the right side. Franklin had made it to the back of the house and, after taking out a couple of guards along the way, had begun to climb the stones beside the deck when he heard a yell from the other side of the house. He knew they had to have at least taken out half of the guards up to that point, if not more, but the ones that remained jumped into action in that moment. Girls in bikinis were running everywhere, gunfire was ringing in his ears, and he had no idea where Trevor was. Well...until he heard a roar of "yippee - ki - yi" followed by a string of expletives. Yep...that would be Trevor making a grand entrance. He rolled his eyes as he remained crouched down behind one of the rocks.

He peeked over the top of the rock to see that Trevor had drawn everyone's attention. No one even knew he was down there yet. He quietly made his way up until he could climb over the side of the deck, cursing himself when he landed with a thump right behind a guard. The startled man waved his gun wildly, not even coming close to aiming at anyone in particular. Bullets sprayed all around Franklin, but he calmly placed two in the man's chest before moving on. It had cleared out dramatically now that the girls had scattered, running towards the road screaming. Trevor was literally gunning down anyone and everyone, all while releasing a primal scream.

When the gunfire stopped, they both stared at each other from opposite sides of the deck for a moment before glancing around, looking for the host. Suddenly Franklin heard a muffled noise coming from the back of the deck. He held his finger to his lips and pointed to a large storage box. Trevor whistled softly through his teeth as his eyes lit up. Franklin let him take the lead, slowly following in case there were any surprises.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are" Trevor called in a singsong voice.

Franklin had to chuckle. The dude had a way of scaring the crap out of people. He watched as Trevor crept towards the box like a lion stalking its prey.

A man screamed in terror as Trevor ripped the top of the box open, a stark contrast to the gleeful sound of Trevor's giggles as he realized it was Devin Weston. Then it was like he flipped a switch and he became completely silent as he moved within an inch of Weston's face.

"You did a very stupid thing Westie" he spat out in a low growl, causing the smaller man to flinch when split hit his face. "No one...NO ONE messes with Michael Townley...DeSanta...whatever the crap he's calling himself these days...except ME." He stabbed a finger into Weston's chest hard enough to make the man stumble.

"You and I are going to take a little trip. Well...it's a one way ticket for you "he snickered as he grabbed Weston's wrists and bound them behind his back with some rope that he'd tied around his own waist in hopes that this moment would come.

"Hey...don't leave me with this nut job! Help me! I'll make it worth your while!" Weston screamed at Franklin as Trevor was dragging him away.

"No one can you now buddy boy" Trevor screamed into his ear as he grabbed the man's hair to pull him along. "Don't wait up cupcake" he called back to Franklin as they disappeared into the night.

Franklin shook his head as he jogged back to the Trevor's vehicle. Trevor had dumped Weston into the trunk of one of the man's own vehicles and taken off down the road. Franklin was kind of glad that he wasn't going with him to be honest. Now that he sat in the vehicle, exhaustion hit him and he could only imagine that whatever Trevor had planned for Devin Weston, it wasn't going to be quick and easy. He sighed as he started the vehicle and shifted into gear. He hoped that when he got back to Michael's house he wasn't going to find a grieving family.

* * *

Every time Devin Weston opened his mouth to try to plead for his life or make a deal, Trevor felt his anger take over to the point where his vision even blurred a little.

"Shut up! Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!" he yelled again as they raced dangerously around the curves in the hills. There would always be silence for a few seconds, sometimes even minutes, before the annoying little prick would start up again. Trevor couldn't wait until he silenced the man for good. He'd wanted to do that for a long time, but after what he'd done to Michael...well...waiting time was over. Michael...Trevor hung his head for a moment. He hoped his friend was still alive but he wasn't feeling confident after the way everything had looked earlier. Half of him wanted to pull over cry and the other half wanted to burn Weston alive. He hated Michael for what he had done to him. Betrayal was unforgivable in his mind. At the same time, he loved the man. He had been the first person that had befriended Trevor when he was younger. Everyone else just seemed scared of him. Actually Michael did too sometimes, which made it all the more fun. In reality, he actually blamed Amanda for everything. She was the one who had taken Michael away from him. Given him the illusion that he could leave behind the exciting life that they had led in order to become a family man. Trevor huffed as thought about it. Ah who was he kidding...he couldn't even hate Amanda. Not when Michael loved her as much as he did. He could dislike her...maybe even despise her sometimes...but he couldn't even hate her anymore. Their family was the closest thing that he'd ever actually had to his own family. He just wanted to be a part of it. If Devin Weston had robbed him of that opportunity, he'd kill him. Oh wait...he was going to kill him anyways. Maybe sooner rather than later if the princess didn't shut up back there.

* * *

Franklin pulled into the driveway, noticing the doctor's vehicle was gone. He hoped that didn't mean there wasn't a patient to take care of anymore. He took a deep breath before heading inside, praying that he wouldn't have to comfort a grieving son and widow.

As he poked his head around the corner, all he could see was the top of Amanda's head over the couch and Lester fast asleep in the chair. His sneakers squeaked on the hardwood floor and suddenly Jimmy shot up out of nowhere, immediately moving into some sort of karate stance that he had obviously seen in a movie.

"Oh man, you scared about 10 years off my life dude!"

"Sorry dawg," Franklin replied with a small smile as he walked over to the couch.

Amanda smiled up at him and said hi softly. She looked exhausted and her makeup was streaked like she had been crying all night. He finally dared to move his gaze to Michael. The man had definitely seen better days, that was for sure. He looked remarkably better than the last time he'd seen him though. His coloring was coming back and he wasn't covered in blood.

"How's he doing?" he asked cautiously.

"The doctor said he's done everything that he can at this point." Amanda replied as she watched her husband breathe in and out. "He said that Michael's vitals are stable and that now we just have to wait for him to wake up."

Franklin nodded silently, "Well that's good though, right?" He didn't really expect an answer. He sat down on the floor and leaned back against the wall. At this point, all there was to do was sit and watch Michael's chest go up and down as they waited.

* * *

Amanda felt like she'd been hit by a train. She probably looked like it too. She was glad that Franklin had returned safely, but she was afraid to ask what had happened. She wasn't sure she wanted to know. Luckily at this point Lester had decided to wake up from his nap and was startled to see Franklin had rejoined them.

"Did everything go as planned?" he quietly asked the young man, who nodded silently. "and the other one? Where's he?"

Franklin hesitated before saying "he uh...he had to take out the garbage and then he'll be here."

"Of course. We wouldn't be so lucky that he would be a casualty of war," Lester said with a cackle.

"Really man?" Franklin glared at him before pointedly looking over at Michael.

"Right...uh sorry...poor timing and all that" Lester mumbled.

Amanda just sat there looking back and forth between the two of them. Silently rolling her eyes that they thought her and Jimmy couldn't read between the lines of what they were saying. She leaned her head back against the couch, just wanting to rest her eyes again for a moment, only to have them startled back open when she heard a moan from the man beside her on the couch. She shot up off the couch immediately and knelt beside him, one hand stroking his hair and the other his chin.

"Michael? Can you hear me? Open your eyes baby...please open your eyes" she pleaded. He mumbled something incoherently but his eyes didn't open.

"We're here Dad" Jimmy called from over her shoulder. She glanced up to find all three of them men bunched up right behind her, all trying to see Michael's face.

Michael's head turned slightly into Amanda's hand and the movement caused another groan to escape his lip, his face twisting into a grimace of pain.

"Shhh it's ok Michael, try not to move" Amanda said again, reaching down to grasp his fingers in her hand. Tears filled her eyes when she felt his hand squeeze lightly around hers.

"He just squeezed my hand!" she excitedly told the others as she continued to stroke his forehead with her other hand.

The tears made their way quickly down her cheeks when she saw her husband's eyes flicker until they could stay open and she finally saw the blue eyes that she'd loved nearly her whole life.

"Oh Michael, you scared us so much" she sobbed as she leaned forward and kissed his forehead. He mumbled "sorry" so quietly that she almost didn't hear it.

"No baby, I'm the one who's sorry. I should never have..." she stopped abruptly as Lester inadvertently sneezed behind her, reminding her of their presence.

Michael's eyes flickered up and over each of the faces standing behind her.

"Glad to see you back in the of the living" Lester said with a smirk.

"Michael, it's good to see you awake man." Franklin said with relief, "you had us all pretty scared."

Jimmy had dropped down beside his mom, trying to hide the fact that his chin was trembling. He didn't want to cry in front of his father, but he couldn't keep it in anymore when Michael's hand released Amanda's and reached up to pull him down. Jimmy buried his face into the couch at his father's side while Michael patted the back of his head. This just made Amanda cry even harder as she rubbed her son's back and couldn't stop touching her husband's face.

She barely registered Franklin quietly telling Lester that they should step outside to give the family some privacy.

Jimmy flinched when his phone suddenly started ringing in his pocket. "It's Tracey" he looked at his mom with wide eyes, unsure of what he should do.

"Go ahead and answer it, tell her she should come home" Amanda answered his unasked question.

He stood up and walked into the other room to try to explain things to his sister, leaving his parents alone in the living room.

Amanda's eyes filled with tears again when she looked back at Michael, only to find him still watching her. "I'm so sorry Michael...I should never have left. I was mad and scared but it wasn't fair to just take off like that. I should have stayed and talked to you. I should have fought for our marriage..." she trailed as Michael tried to shake his head.

"S'ok...I'm not mad" he mumbled weakly, "I'm just glad you're here. I didn't handle it the way I should have either and..." he was interrupted by a coughing fit that caused him to nearly cry out in pain.

"Shhh don't try to talk baby, we can talk about all of this when you're better. You have two broken ribs, along with a lot of other injuries, so you need to be careful!"

They both jumped when the door was pushed open so hard that it slammed off the wall and in walked Trevor Phillips, who came over to stand beside the couch.

"Hey T," Michael said weakly as he watched the man a little nervously.

"Michael..." Trevor replied quietly as he looked over the visible wounds on the other man's body. His jaw tightened in anger before he looked back at Michael's face. "Thought you could get away from me did ya? Can't get away from me that easy. If anyone is gonna kill you, it's gonna be me. And I'd follow you all the way to hell to do it if I had to." he finally said with a smirk.

"Yeah ok, whatever you say T" Michael replied as he rolled his eyes. "Listen, about...this" he said as he vaguely waved at some of his injuries."

"Say no more Mikey...nothin' for you to worry your pretty little head about" Trevor interrupted as he crossed his arms confidently, winking at Amanda who rolled her eyes in disgust.

Michael raised an eyebrow, "You know everything?"

"Yep, and the problem has been eradicated by yours truly" Trevor bowed dramatically causing Michael to give a slight chuckle. "You DO know that you're supposed to duck when the other guy swings right? Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee Mikey. Sting like a bee."

"Shut up T, get outta here" Michael laughed again and closed his eyes knowing he could actually rest now. His friends had his back, his family was back home, and his wife was looking at him with love in her eyes that he hadn't seen in a long time. Maybe nearly dying had been worth it.


End file.
